Tuesday, February 7, 2012

UNDER HOT LEATHER (ACE VIDEO - 1971)

Originally titled "The Jesus Trip," this is perhaps one of the best of its respective sub-genre. The outlandishly scrumptious plot features a drug-muling biker gang on the lamb from an unhinged motorcycle cop who bum a bunch of nuns out by hauling up in their convent. Granted, this is still an exploitation endeavor, but the bikers themselves aren't simply goons for the sake of mayhem and terror. Instead, the gang members feel like actual people you can invest your feelings in, which gives the situations weight and makes the tension actually work. Mindless destruction is fun, but rarely is it so good that it can sustain your attention for an entire feature.

This stars Billy "Green" Bush as the officer hot on the biker's trail. Most probably best remember him as Zipper in the immortal "Electra Glide in Blue." That's actually the primary reason I tracked this one down. Sadly, the only copy I was able to find was put out by ACE Video under the title "Under Hot Leather," with some awful art obviously designed by someone with no tact or familiarity with the actual content of the film.